5,179 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Purchased by Highland Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Highland Investment Advisors purchased 5,179 Apple shares worth approximately $1.5 million, making Apple its 23rd-largest holding and representing about 0.6% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own approximately 67.73% of Apple, with several major firms—including Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America and Legal & General—reporting new positions during the second quarter.
• Apple reported quarterly revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and exceeded earnings expectations. However, insiders sold roughly $92.1 million in shares over three months, primarily to cover tax obligations, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $340.02 target price.

Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,179 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,499,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.6% of Highland Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $30,443,242,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $13,658,359,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $10,588,946,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timothy Cook sold 191,753 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at $19,832,236.98. This represents a 29.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 276,984 shares of company stock worth $92,116,025 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $333.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.26, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $321.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.42 and a 12 month high of $345.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Arete Research raised their price objective on Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.02.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly partnering with LG to develop smart-home products including a smart lock, thermostat and doorbell. Expanding into connected-home hardware could deepen the Apple ecosystem and create additional long-term revenue opportunities. Apple smart home partnership
• Positive Sentiment: App Store revenue growth rebounded to approximately 5% in September after a weaker August, suggesting improving momentum for Apple’s high-margin Services business. The recovery is supportive, although UBS remains cautious about the durability of the growth. App Store growth rebounds
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest reported quarter remains a fundamental support: revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion and earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Investor optimism is also tied to a potential Siri overhaul and stronger AI capabilities.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is trading above many analyst price targets, while its roughly 38-times earnings valuation leaves limited room for execution disappointments. Investors are watching whether a possible $1,999 foldable iPhone can justify premium pricing and sustain the current market multiple. Apple valuation and memory costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s weighting in major index and technology ETFs remains substantial as Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia together account for about 21% of the S&P 500. This supports demand through passive investing but also increases concentration and valuation risk. Apple ETF exposure
• Negative Sentiment: Memory-cost inflation could pressure gross margins, while analysts expect earnings growth to slow to roughly 8.5% in 2027. Concerns that Apple remains behind rivals in AI monetization make the premium valuation more difficult to defend. Apple earnings multiple concerns
• Negative Sentiment: CEO John Ternus, Timothy Cook and SVP Deirdre O’Brien sold shares worth roughly $87.8 million in total. The filings cited tax withholding related to vested equity awards, reducing the signal of bearish intent, but the insider selling may still create short-term headline pressure. Apple insider sales

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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